[Bill,
October 17, 2008]
GOP thoughts
Peggy Noonan knocks another one out of the park. Today she really, um, nails some within the GOP's reservations about Sarah Palin. The VP nominee has too much "jes folks" populism for my taste, and not enough grounding ... well, read Noonan's column.
Noonan also points to the fracturing of the GOP over Palin. Truth is, we Reagan Democrats who eventually signed up with the Republican Party never quite gained control of the party -- even Reagan didn't. There were some moments, but we never really had it. There have been too many Dubya's, Quayle's and now Palin's at the national level -- basically, quick fixes based on image, and not enough substance.
McCain should've picked Romney. Romney has succeeded in virtually everything he's tried, he's well spoken, and he looks like the president to boot.
Noonan ends with this light touch, referring to the those ommentator's on the right who are criticizing those Republicans who aren't fans of Palin: "Come and get me copper."
For a long time, we've nominated too much on positions and not enough on judgment. I know the election in some polls is tightening, and if the Red Sox can overcome a 7-0 deficit in the seventh inning, maybe so can we. We'll straighten out our family quarrels afterward.
There's one last issue, and that's the number of half truths I've been hearing on our side. I'm getting sick of it. I can interpret GOP-speak like crazy, but the half truths are starting to pile up in a way that's detrimental to GOP credibility.
I mean, I expect half-truths from the Democrats -- they're the party of half-truths, the party of seemingly good and noble sounding ideas that somehow fuck things up because they ignore some key aspect of human nature, the party that thinks it's good intentions cancel out the very serious damage they do to the poor and to the unborn and to the culture itself.
That kind of half-truthness is not what we're getting from the GOP, it's not the idea that's fucked up -- it's this: There's this casual attitude toward factual accuracy that's bugging me. There's telling half the facts -- and there's two problems with that:
1. The GOP doesn't need to do it.
2. The facts come out eventually, and there's no reason to allow the Democrats to score points by correcting the GOP on factual issues.
One last thing: I think Sarah Palin, by all appearances, seems like a wonderful individual. I find disturbing and discrediting the level of hate spewed against her. If you hate Sarah Palin, you hate an image, because you don't know her and can't know her. And that image you really hate is America itself, because at the local level, she's exactly the type of person who makes this country great.
But if you don't think she should be a heartbeat away the presidency, that's a different story ...
Noonan also points to the fracturing of the GOP over Palin. Truth is, we Reagan Democrats who eventually signed up with the Republican Party never quite gained control of the party -- even Reagan didn't. There were some moments, but we never really had it. There have been too many Dubya's, Quayle's and now Palin's at the national level -- basically, quick fixes based on image, and not enough substance.
McCain should've picked Romney. Romney has succeeded in virtually everything he's tried, he's well spoken, and he looks like the president to boot.
Noonan ends with this light touch, referring to the those ommentator's on the right who are criticizing those Republicans who aren't fans of Palin: "Come and get me copper."
For a long time, we've nominated too much on positions and not enough on judgment. I know the election in some polls is tightening, and if the Red Sox can overcome a 7-0 deficit in the seventh inning, maybe so can we. We'll straighten out our family quarrels afterward.
There's one last issue, and that's the number of half truths I've been hearing on our side. I'm getting sick of it. I can interpret GOP-speak like crazy, but the half truths are starting to pile up in a way that's detrimental to GOP credibility.
I mean, I expect half-truths from the Democrats -- they're the party of half-truths, the party of seemingly good and noble sounding ideas that somehow fuck things up because they ignore some key aspect of human nature, the party that thinks it's good intentions cancel out the very serious damage they do to the poor and to the unborn and to the culture itself.
That kind of half-truthness is not what we're getting from the GOP, it's not the idea that's fucked up -- it's this: There's this casual attitude toward factual accuracy that's bugging me. There's telling half the facts -- and there's two problems with that:
1. The GOP doesn't need to do it.
2. The facts come out eventually, and there's no reason to allow the Democrats to score points by correcting the GOP on factual issues.
One last thing: I think Sarah Palin, by all appearances, seems like a wonderful individual. I find disturbing and discrediting the level of hate spewed against her. If you hate Sarah Palin, you hate an image, because you don't know her and can't know her. And that image you really hate is America itself, because at the local level, she's exactly the type of person who makes this country great.
But if you don't think she should be a heartbeat away the presidency, that's a different story ...